Classic Poem

I.

Forget Thee! — In my banquet halls,
Go ask my fellow men,
Or ask the tear that secret falls,
If I forget thee then,
The midnight hours, with songs and wine,
I ever shar'd with thee;
The midnight hours, they still are thine,
And fatal memory.

II.

Forget thee! — In the mirthful dance,
There steals some eye-beam's ray
Like thine — that makes me with its glance
Turn swift in tears away.
Go ask my minstrels, when they breathe
The verse, the poet's pen
With each Parnassan sweet hath wreath'd,
If I forget thee then?

III.

Forget thee! — Oh! there is but one
Could from my memory chase
Each sweet charm I have gaz'd upon,
Each softly winning grace.
To be that one's my first, first vow,
I pledg'd with infant breath,
And he comes to demand me now,
Thy rival, love, — is death .

IV.

Forget thee! — When my funeral urn
Thy tearful gaze shall meet,
And censers of aroma burn,
Exhaling at my feet:
When winds and storms careering sweep
Unheeded o'er my breast,
And cypress waves — then turn and weep,
And own my love's at rest.